Museum’s Olympic project gets new funding from AFOW

Aim is to have exhibit open in February 2009

The Whistler Museum has received $20,000 from the American
Friends of Whistler to support the creation of the museum’s new exhibit on
Whistler’s Olympic Journey.

“These are new, additional funds that are quite substantial and
it is very exciting,” said Jehanne Burns, who handles programs and promotions
for the museum.

The museum’s Olympic exhibit will be moving into the old
library portable which is currently located right beside the new library
building. The Resort Municipality of Whistler is paying to refurbish the
portable and it is hoped Whistler’s Olympic Journey will be open to the public
by February of 2009.

The display will be unique and will focus on much more than
just the nuts and bolts of how the 2010 Olympics were won and the previous
bids.

“It is really all encompassing,” said Burns.

“Even the
formation of the mountains is part of the Olympic dream. If the mountains
weren’t the geography that they are then the story would never have unfolded
the way it did.

“And it is really about the people, as well, who made this
place happen over all of time. From the pioneers at the beginning to today. So
it is really about the Olympic spirit. It is about the community and the magic
of this place.”

The American Friends of Whistler is a U.S. non-profit
organization that seeks contributions from Americans who regularly visit or own
property in Whistler. The funds it raises are then given exclusively to
Whistler charities. Since its launch in 2003 the AFOW has granted over $300,000
to community organizations in the Whistler area.